WATCH: Goodbye Gżira Seafront, Welcome Private Lido: This Is What Land Reclamation Looks Like
https://www.facebook.com/inhobbulgzira/videos/453774732215093/
A land reclamation project turning a large section of the Gżira promenade into a private lido has been called out by a number of politicians, local councillors and groups for its negative environmental effects.
“Careless dumping of construction material and inadequate protection for our country’s unique ecology. Look at this mess! ERA, PA, Local Council and national authorities, where are you?” the Gżira watchdog page Inħobbu l-Gżira said today.
Their comments came after the seafront in Gżira, as well as the water in Sliema Creek, turned milky blue due to the construction’s debris and silt.
“With sadness, we show you the greatest act of vandalism on the Gżira seafront and Sliema Creek for the benefit of the Bayview Hotel, the Kennedy Nova Hotel and the Waterfront Hotel. The video shows the extent of the sea and the relative seafront being lost to the public,” the group said.
A section of the promenade has been curtained off to be transformed into a private lido in front of the 115 The Strand Hotel. The lido, which has multiple shareholders, has been given a permit to go ahead with construction.
Videos of excavators dumping construction debris into the nearby sea had raised local residents’ concerns about what was going on last Friday.
https://www.facebook.com/Jeremy4Gzira/videos/2627531280662069/
The excavator raised the concern of many, including local councillor Jeremy Cardona.
“As a minority leader I need to put the residents first,” he told Lovin Malta. “I need to speak for Gzira and for residents. What happened in the past is in the past now and what the council did not do that time I can’t fix now, but what I can say is that this is vandalism.”
“We can say bye to the public promenade and welcome the private Lido that will give pedestrians merely two metres of passageway. Gżira deserves much better,” he said.
“5-star destruction at Gżira with zero monitoring. The usurpation of public land for a private lido,” Micheal Briguglio, sociologist and former PN MEP candidate, said in a separate public post. “We deserve better.”
Partit Demokratiku has also condemned the project and shared a photo indicating just how large the lido is set to be.
“To give an idea of the public land being stolen in Gzira for a private lido. Down with the corrupt and their network!” PD said.
Today, it looks like much of the debris and silt involved in the construction of the lido has escaped the silt curtain, turning the water in Gżira, Sliema Creek and around Manoel Island a milky blue, the local council pointed out.
A 2016 render of the proposed lido
Just up the promenade, Manoel Island itself is currently being developing into a luxury village aimed at attracting “high-end” tourism and business.
https://www.facebook.com/inhobbulgzira/videos/2017587908344164/
What do think of this new construction?
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